A woman receives
medication at a mobile dispensary opened by President Banda — Early April
2011.

A cross section of the Zambian
society has praised President Rupiah Banda for launching mobile hospitals,
saying they will help save lives of people in the country.

Chief Mwanachingwala of Mazabuka in
Southern Province said many lives would be saved through the use of mobile
hospitals, adding that the hospitals should be supported by all
Zambians.

He said in an interview that people, especially those in rural
areas, had long been waiting for the mobile hospitals because they would ease
the burdens they faced in accessing health services.

"The coming of
mobile hospitals is good because everyone will be catered for including the
rural community which for a long time has been covering long distances to seek
medical attention.

"These mobile hospitals which have modern equipment
will go right to the people and offer them the much needed services such as the
provision of ARVs (anti-retroviral drugs) and other services" Chief
Mwanachingwala said.

He said people criticising the president on the
mobile hospitals should not be entertained because they were only interested in
going to State House and not in addressing the plight of Zambians.

The
traditional leader said his subjects had been covering long distances in search
of medical services, and that the introduction of mobile hospitals would offer a
lot of relief.

Christian
Coalition of Zambia spokesperson John Mwendapole said President Banda should
be praised for being sensitive to people's lives, especially those in rural
areas.

He said the launch of the mobile hospitals was an indication that
the president was a man who kept his promises and was interested in the plight
of the many Zambians in need of better health services.

"Despite the
criticism that President Banda and his Government has gone through over the
mobile hospitals from the opposition and other sectors, he has gone ahead to
launch the facility and to me, that is a sign that he is working for the
betterment of the country and its people.

He wants to take this country
to another level of development," Mr Mwendapole said.Leadership in Development
executive director Moses Kalonde commended Mr Banda for living up to his words
by launching the mobile hospitals.

Mr Kalonde said in an interview that
when the concept of mobile hospitals was first discussed, Mr Banda came under
heavy criticism.

He said it was now gratifying that the hospitals had
finally been launched and manypeople were going to benefit from them.Public
Health Partnership Forum communication manager Enock Kaputula said his
organisation was happy that the concept of mobile hospitals had come to
fruition.

Mr Kaputula said his organisation had always been in support of
the concept of mobile hospitals because they would help save many people's
lives.

MMD aspiring candidate for health, Derricks Mwendafilumba
commended the president for the launch of the mobile hospitals as they would add
more value to health service delivery to the Zambians.

Mr Mwendafilumba
said the mobile hospitals would be useful as they would reachremote areas where
most people did not have access to health care services.

On Saturday,
President Banda launched the first of the mobile hospitals to be strategically
located in all the nine provinces and would benefit about 8.7 million people
countrywide.The president also said the Government had bought 17 marine clinics
and 12 boats for transportation in areas where people used water
transport.